Three Sappy People

The Stooges are telephone repairmen mistaken for psychiatrists Ziller, Zeller, and Zoller. They are to treat Sherry (Lorna Gray), the wild and impetuous wife of a staid millionaire (Don Beddoe).

Watch the slapstick cream puff throwing climax carefully. Sherry (Lorna Gray) gets hits right in the mouth with a cream puff that actually lodges in her throat. She closes her eyes tightly, turns her head down and to the right, and appears to choke, which she did. Director Jules White immediately stopped the shot but the incident is still in the finished product. Moe Howard talks about it in his book about The Stooges and says that Lorna nearly died. Jules White was really frightened by it. But in an interview later in life, Lorna Gray said that she never felt like she was in any real danger and was upset about Jules White nearly spoiling the scene by cutting too soon. Still, watch the cream puff throwing closely and it's obvious that Lorna is definitely in actual distress before the scene cuts away.

I just watched this on MeTV on the regular Saturday afternoon-evening Stooge Fest.

In, December 1939's "Three Sappy People," their 43rd short. Lorna Gray stars as Sherry, the spirited rich wife of millionaire J. Rumsford Rumford (Don Beddoe). She's bored to tears during her birthday party and wants to venture out to more exciting adventures. Meanwhile, her husband calls psychiatrist Drs. Z. Ziller, X. Zeller and Y. Zoller, only to get telephone repairmen Moe, Larry and Curly working on the doctors' switchboard. Hearing about the amount of money the doctors would make by curing Sherry's ennui, the three pose as the psychiatrists and arrive at the wife's party. They soon turn the formal dinner party into a riotous affair, breaking out into an outrageous pastry altercation, much to the delight of Sherry.

During the filming Gray, 22, was injured by a thrown pastry which happened to lodge in her throat. Seen in the final edit, Lorna was taken by complete surprise when the cream puff entered her gullet. Director Jules White immediately stopped filming and sought the studio medical team. The actress in subsequent interviews brushed off the incident, claiming the story was exaggerated by White, saying she was never in any medical danger. Gray was one of the longest living actresses who played alongside Curly when he was with the Stooges, dying just a couple of months from turning 100. Born Virginia Pound, Gray took a second stage name, Adrian Booth, in 1945 after leaving Columbia Pictures. Lorna was strictly a B-film actress, starring in a number of Westerns for Monogram and Republic Pictures. She was the only actress at Republic beside Dale Evans to receive top-star billing for her movies at the studio. After retiring from Hollywood in 1951, Lorna attended a number of film festivals and Stooges' conventions well into her nineties. She received the prestigious 'Golden Boot Award' in 1998 for her many appearances in Westerns.

You want insane. You got it. The Stooges hit their stride with ultra comedy film shorts like this, thanks to writer Clyde Bruckman, who let it roll, taking every opportunity to make it as bananas as possible.

Another case of mistaken identity, which fit Moe, Larry and Curly's style. They play phone repairmen mistaken(?) for distinguished psychiatrists? Introducing Drs. Z. Ziller. X. Zeller and Y. Zoller?

Mission: Cure(?) wealthy Mr. Rumford's (Don Beddoe) wife of being NUTS. Fact of the matter, everyone is nuts here. Ann Doran, a fabulous character actress, steals the show playing the Countess. Just watch her face. Bud Jamison is right at home as the poker face butler, from the school of James Finlayson who played off Laurel and Hardy. This features one of the BEST food fights the Stooges ever got themselves into, although behind the scenes actress Lorna Gray (who plays the dippy wife) claims she was hit so hard by a cream puff it partially lodged in her throat. The casualties of comedy.

Gloria Blondell, sister of actress Joan Bondell, plays the switchboard operator. Gloria co-starred in the LIFE OF RILEY tv show, later the voice of Walt Disney's Daisy Duck.

Fasten your seat belt for this party FEST. Always on remastered Columbia dvds, generally by decades, 30s, 40s and 50s episodes. Thanks to METV for running these golden oldies every Saturday.

Three Sappy People is a favorite of mine due to Lorna Gray's performance. She reminded me of a woman I knew a few years back who was a spitting image of her in this short.

The Three Stooges play three inept phone repairmen. During their attempt to fix the switchboard, they are then mistaken for the psychiatrists in the office they are doing work in. Due to Curly's friend/wife/dog Gertie "expecting any minute", they decide to portray the 3 psychiatrists named Ziller, Zeller and Zoller to make money to help Gertie. Fortunately for The Stooges, these three psychiatrists are known for their unorthodox methods.

The patient in question is Sherry Rumsford (Gray) who is the young, restless and vivacious wife of J. Rumsford Rumsford (Don Beddoe) who wants her wanderlust sated. The boys run amok at the party and at the dinner table hoping they can cure Sherry and collect.

The star of this episode aren't any of the Stooges but Gray. The then 22-year old actress is absolutely infectious whether she's talking, laughing or parking her car INSIDE the mansion. She has a devil-may-care attitude that is very appealing. Ann Doran, playing a countess who Curly annoys, is also a standout. I found her very attractive. Other Three Stooges' regulars such as Bud Jamison (playing a butler) and Richard Fiske (playing a guest) are also in the cast.

While not one of their elite shorts, Three Sappy People is still quite good. I never get tired of watching Lorna Gray and Ann Doran in this one.

Three Sappy People (1939)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Hilarious short has the Three Stooges playing phone repairmen who are working at the office of some famous psychiatrists when they learn they're in desperate need of money. They receive a phone call from some rich folks needing some help with a crazy wife so they pretend to be doctors and all hell breaks loose. This is perhaps one of the most famous shorts that the Stooges ever did and it's easy to see why as it's action-packed from start to finish with some terrific dialogue and great jokes. I'm normally not a fan of food fights and they can be from any film be it the Stooges or those early Keystone pictures but the one here is actually pretty funny and wild. One of the biggest highlights come from the boys trying to check reflexes but of course they can't do this right and it ends with Curly checking one man's who just happens to have a wooden leg. Other great jokes include a sequence at the dinner table when the boys make pigs out of themselves. The greatest scene in the film has to be when Curly accidentally eats a powder puff.